Reaper of Souls is coming to a console near you

On the 19th August 2014 Diablo III’s Ultimate Evil Edition will be available to play on your console, that’s PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. You will be able to battle the Angel of Death either solo or with a team of four players ia PlayStation Network or Xbox Live and it includes all the content from the latest expansion ‘Reaper of Souls’ as well as Acts I to IV from the original Diablo III. This is a great release for console players, the price comes in at 69.99 EUR/59.99 USD for the PS4 or Xbox One and 39.99 EUR/39.99 USD for the PS3 or Xbox 360.

Additionally, if you pre-order you also get the ‘Infernal Pauldrons’, this piece of shoulder armour provides vitality, life per second and cooldown reduction bonuses and can also be transmogged.

The good news for those who played the original PS3 or Xbox 360 versions of Diablo III is that they will be able to continue their journey without starting again. PS3 characters from the original game can be transferred to either the PS3 or PS4 Ultimate Evil Edition, and Xbox 360 characters can be transferred to the Xbox 360 or Xbox One version.

For anyone who hasn’t played the PC version of Diablo III this is a must have for the console, it really is full of fast-paced action, awesome heroes (crusader, barbarian, witch doctor, demon hunter, monk, or wizard) and legendary drops and unlike the PC version, you get all this from the comfort of your couch.

Hot News from Gamescom 2013

If you’ve never been to Gamescom you are missing out, with the latest in the hardware and software sector it’s one of the years most prominent events. At Gamescom you can immerse yourself in the multi-faceted world of gaming and technology, have fun and experience all the latest game premiers. If you can’t be there, here are a few of the highlights that you might want to check out, as we get more information be sure that we’ll bring it to you here at The Gamers Blog. Here are a few of the announcements so far that I’m particularly excited about.

Firaxis prepare to upgrade XCOM with their Enemy Within expansion
Enemy Within will be available on PC and Mac, while Xbox 360 and PS3 will get the “Commander Edition” that includes a copy of Enemy Unknown and the Slingshot and Elite Soldier content packs. Set in the confines of Enemy Unknown, it’s the same game just with more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4KdSli869U

Diablo 3 unleashes new terrors, in the new expansion, Reaper of Souls
Named after its new lord of darkness, Maltheal, the fallen angel of wisdom who has now become the angel of death. The expansion will add new zones to fight through, a new class called the Crusader and raise the level cap to 70 for all of Diablo 3′s current classes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb7QJwQ58T0

Crytek’s new CryEngine
Now just called ‘CryEngine’ features revolutionary PuddleTech. Crytek’s Carl Jones explains “We have revolutionised many parts of the engine: we have overhauled our entire lighting system, built movie quality character rendering and animation solutions, vastly improved the speed and effectiveness of our Sandbox editor, and even our rendering has changed with tessellation, pixel accurate displacement mapping and now physical based rendering; all of this while maintaining our first principal: that making games should be real-time, all the time.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF1zjDSqPoo

Although there has been no date for launch officially released for Destiny, it has had a lot of coverage in recent months and there seem to be a lot of questions surrounding the release that remain unanswered, at least for the time being. Bungie, the developers behind the game in association with Activision, have been careful to avoid labelling the game as an MMO instead describing it as an always-online FPS that will incorporate MMO elements referring to it as a ‘shared-world shooter’ because it doesn’t follow all the traditional elements of an MMO game, e.g., you won’t be able to see and interact with all players on your server, instead you would be matched up with other players by the game which will be driven by a brand new game engine which builds upon Bungie’s ‘hopper’ technology that has been used within the Halo games. It is expected that Destiny will be a cross-platform game being released for the XBox360 and PS3, perhaps even the next generation consoles, particularly the PS4. Bungie have definitely stated that Destiny will definitely have a presence on these new generation consoles however they have not yet stated whether this will be in time for launch. Also, as a PC gamer I was interested in Destiny being released for the PC market and there seemed to be some insinuation that gamers just don’t play FPS on PCs anymore… not entirely sure who came up with that one because it’s definitely not what I see, but in all honesty I can’t see this game being released without a PC version, it is a major game and has been under development for years and given the investment I don’t think it will be left off.

The game is set in the future on a post-apocalyptic earth, the survivors of the apocalypse, saved by a being known as the traveler, now call upon a yet unknown power that seems to be connected to the traveler to defend Earth’s last remaining city. As a Guardian of the City you are tasked with destroying the hostile alien races that have taken hold before humanity is completely wiped out. You will be able to choose one of three distinct races as a Guardian: Human, Awoken, or Exo, as well as one of three classes: Hunter, Warlock, or Titan. Each race and class has it’s own unique abilities and it is the combination of a Guardian race and class that determines the kind of Guardian you will be. For more information on what the game will look like and the creative vision of Bungie take a look at the video clip below or for more information visit the official website at: www.destinythegame.com.

Select retailers worldwide have now begun taking pre-orders for the upcoming PlayStation 3 system version of Diablo III — see the official website for a list of participating retailers.

Diablo III was originally released for PC and Mac on 15th May 2012 and within 24 hours became the fastest-selling PC game of all time. Now console gamers can pre-order the PS3 version which has been tailored especially for the console, with updates to the game’s thrilling boss battles, an all-new user interface featuring an intuitive control system, and a dynamic camera perspective that will make vanquishing evil feel like second nature on the PlayStation. Players can take on the vile denizens of the Burning Hells alone or in a party of up to four via same-screen local cooperative play, online play over the PlayStation Network, or any combination of online or local players.

Players who pre-order the PS3 version of Diablo III will receive an exclusive in-game item: the Infernal Helm, which grants an experience point boost to any character who wears it, accelerating their progression as they rise in power. Certain retailers will also offer limited-edition pre-order bonuses.

Diablo III continues the epic Diablo storyline, with players taking on the role of one of five heroic characters: barbarian, witch doctor, wizard, monk, or demon hunter, embarking on a perilous quest to save the world of Sanctuary from the corrupting forces of the Burning Hells.

The game will go on sale later this year for a suggested retail price of $59.99/£39.99, more information about the release will be announced closer to the time.

April 4, 2013

The Gadget Show Live UK

Although on a much smaller scale than any of the big name gaming conventions, The Gadget Show Live, held this year at the Birmingham NEC (3-7 April 2013) does have some exiting attractions for gamers and techies alike. The show is based around the popular TV programme the Gadget Show and gives you the opportunity to try and buy the very best in cutting edge technology. The Game Zone is where some of the biggest names in the gaming industry will be (Capcom, Nintendo, Epic Games and EA to name a few and you can find the full exhibitor list here), you can try out the latest games including: Remember Me, Resident Evil, Dead Space 3 and Crysis 3, and take part in mass gaming competitions, whether you are a pro gamer or a complete beginner. Igloo will be bringing a unique 360 degree gaming dome and this year’s event sees the set-up of the Battlefield Live arena quoted on the event website as “An authentic combat experience using sophisticated gaming guns, is it the most realistic simulation short of joining the military”. And, what could be better than a bit of ESports action, there will be a CS:GO tournament with a £10,000 cash prize. The tournament will feature top teams from across Europe, not to be missed between the 5-7 April 2013. You want to play yourself, no problem, there will be a 1-day session where anyone can just turn up and play.

If you are in the area or you want to go and check this event out it’s on now 3-7 April 2013 and you can book tickets via the website. Additionally, as a little added extra, Game are giving you a 10% discount off any games bought at the event too.

Last weekend saw the spectacle that is PAX East 2013 in Boston. If you were lucky enough to go we hope you had a fantastic time, if like me you watched from afar, perhaps not as far as the UK though, I thought I’d do a quick update on the MMO side of things at this years event. Blizzard Entertainment promised us something new would be announced and they didn’t disappoint, there was plenty of speculation before hand about them perhaps revealing more information about Titan or some new content relating to Diablo III, but instead they gave us Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft which is billed to be a new digital card game where players build card decks based around one of nine WoW character classes. With all the excitement it definitely warranted a bigger piece on the blog and you can find the full story about Hearthstone here: http://www.thegamersblog.com/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/. If you were at PAX East you would have been able to try out the game now and reports coming back are positive from gamers – although they don’t see anything particularly groundbreaking it’s perfect for your ‘off-wow time’. For the rest of us the beta should be coming soon – there is currently no set date at present.

On the MMO expansions side a few interesting ones were announced: CCP Games announced EVE Online’s next expansion, Odyssey, due for release on June 4th 2013; and Cryptic announced the first expansion for Star Trek Online, Legacy of Romulus, due for release on May 21st, this gives players the ability to play as a Romulan and captain a Warbird-class vessel. On the flip side ArenaNet confirmed that we won’t be getting an expansion for Guild Wars 2 anytime soon, the game’s developers are focusing instead on more immediate content releases to make the game as good as it can be.

We recently also had a piece on the blog about Runescape and Jagex announced Runescape 3 at PAX East 2013 which improves on the last 12 years of the original game’s development. You can check out why you might want to play Runescape in our MMORPG Update piece titled ‘Discovering Runescape’: http://www.thegamersblog.com/mmorpg-update-discovering-runescape/. The release takes advantage of a new game engine and will run faster and look better, although you will still be able to use the old Java client if you want.

Newcomer to my world of MMOs was F2P MMO City of Steam from Mechanist Games, described as an “industrial age fantasy in a fallen world” the game mixes fantasy with industrialism. Good reports are coming out from the PAX East weekend about this game and it will be going into beta sometime soon, the developers tell us that they are hoping to launch sometime in the next few months.

Blizzard were also showcasing their Diablo III’s console edition and hinted that it might not stop at just the PlayStation 3 and 4. Check out the trailer shown to gamers at the Blizzard booth here:

There was of course tons more information available over the weekend and if you are interested in what else happened or other PAX events a good starting point is the website here at: http://east.paxsite.com/.

December 13, 2012

Valve to Release New Steam PC

According to Valve’s Gabe Newell, a new kind of PC will be released next year which aims to compete with the living room console. These PCs will be designed to be connected to your TV and enable you to run steam to play all your game titles. The ‘Steam PC’ will not be as flexible and open-source as a normal PC due to it’s function in being a method of bridging the gap between playing games on a console and playing games on a PC, but Valve think that this is something that people will really want for their living rooms and will compete with other companies such as Sony with their next generation consoles. We are going to have to wait until next year for more details however, we’ll keep you posted as more news is released.

Risen 2: Dark Waters Giveaway

To coincide with our interview with Björn Pankratz, Project Director at Piranha Bytes, our friends at Koch Media have given us 5 Xbox and PS3 promo copies of Risen 2: Dark Waters to giveaway!

Now you’ve earned command of your very own pirate ship, the question is, what are you going to call her? All you have to do is tell us what you would call your pirate ship in the comments section below. Winners will be announced on Wednesday 31st October. Won a prize from us before? No problem! You can play and win as many times as you like! To qualify for the contest do the following:

Gaming Community: SolidarityGaming

The world of video gaming is a place that let’s your imagination run wild, there are always new ideas and new ways of looking at things and what really attracts me to gaming is the way it can also bring people together and brings out the best in them. Sometimes when you just get trolls in forums and in-game it seems like no-one has the time of day it’s not fun which is why I think SolidarityGaming are brilliant. These guys are a group of friends with a shared interest in gaming, they are making some really good YouTube content doing what they love. They are passionate about gaming and they’ve covered a number of games so far, both modern titles and console classics, including: World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, Minecraft, Modern Warfare 3 and most recently Team Fortress 2. The content is fun and you’re not going to feel like you’re being lectured on how to play the game – in fact you might find that it’s a great way of seeing a game from another angle.

SolidarityGaming have such a good outlook and community philosophy on gaming and that’s something I really appreciate. You can check out SolidarityGaming on their YouTube page, you can also follow them on Twitter @SolidarityCoUK and also like them on their Facebook page. If you appreciate what these guys are doing please do give them your support.

Here is their latest video for Team Fortress 2:

And if like me you’re gearing up for the release of Mists of Pandaria next week, SolidarityGaming are going to be doing a WoW exclusive tomorrow night, so go and take a look.

August 16, 2012

Day 1 for TK at Gamescom – Update

The sun is shining in Germany today and myself and thousands of other gamers headed down to at the Koelnesse Covention Center in Köln. Free travel cards with our tickets meant we got from the hotel to the convention center by Tram, no problems at all… but that was mostly because I wasn’t navigating, lol! This is by far the biggest games event I’ve ever been at and the scale of it was pretty overwhelming at first, 5 massive rooms with additional outdoor areas for refreshments and taking a bit of time out. Firstly I checked in at Blizzard of course and double/triple checked the MoP cinematic time and then started the exploration phase. Queue times were massive throughout the day, especially getting into the Call of Duty Black Ops II area, but it was similar for most big titles if you wanted a chance to get your hands dirty such as Far Cry 3, Ghost Recon, Hitman Absolution, Assassins Creed III, and Medal of Honour, just to name a few. In comparison the console area was easy to get into, PlayStation had a big gaming area and it was by no means empty. Cosplay was big, although I’ve yet to find this mythical cosplay village Blizzard have talked about, and they have done well with the character impersonators this year, The Hitman was awesome. I passed by the swtor stand, and snapped R2D2, but there wasn’t much happening so I will revisit tomorrow, but I did get to the new Star Trek 3D preview which showed some real-time gameplay, this looks pretty slick and I think will be a real turning point for Star Trek gaming, great fight sequences and as you would expect great voice acting considering the cast of the latest film are lending their voices to the game.

There is obviously so much more I haven’t talked about, I will add another update tomorrow and a full debrief with lots of photos when I’m back in the UK. Gute Nacht alle!